-3rd P.O.V.-
-Brunswick Farm-
-Night Time-

(Ruby Rose stares at the moon through a window, sitting on the staircase. Snow is drizzling outside. Ruby checks on Blake Belladonna, Weiss Schnee, and Yang Xiao Long, who are sitting on the rug and staring at the fire from the fireplace...

Maria Calavera reads a book while sitting on the sofa and Ozpin, taking over Oscar's body, is pacing back and forth. After checking on the others, Ruby stands up and walks toward Qrow Branwen. Qrow is sitting nearby the window, looking outside with his feet propped on the drawer.)

Qrow: Storm's cleared up for now. We should be able to leave by morning.

Ruby: That's good.

Qrow: No... I don't have a good feeling about this place, especially with me around...

(Ruby looks down at a wine bottle on the floor with Qrow's hand hovering near it, then looks at him.)

Ruby: Are you... okay?

Qrow: Yeah...i just don't like this place one bit. *sighs* Tell everyone to get some sleep. Y/N and i will wake you guys just before sunrise.

(Ruby walks away as Qrow drinks from the wine bottle. Ruby pauses and looks back at him before narrowing her eyes downward...

Neo and Y/N were upstairs inside the room where the two decomposed bodies are still laying on the bed.)

Y/N: ...Still finding odd they just died while being asleep for this long. Don't you think, Neo?

(The short ice cream themed partner nods her head in confirmation of what he said...

Y/N keeps wondering on how the farm turned into a ghost town with the bodies in every rooms of their own houses...

Back downstairs, in the other room, the fire continues to burn. The book Maria is reading has a "III" on the cover, with the other two volumes on a nearby table.)

Oscar: It's a diary?

Maria: The head of this household, Bartleby. Apparently, he and several other families founded this little settlement to try and live on their own. It sounds like it worked, at least for a spell.

Oscar: Grimm?

Maria: Just one of many hardships. Slowed down their farming, made everything harder... It's a shame, really. He seemed like quite the ambitious fellow, always thinking of new schemes to overcome the odds.

Ruby: *walking back into the room* Hey guys. Qrow said we should get some sleep. We're gonna head out early tomorrow.

Blake: Thank goodness.

(Everyone gets up to get ready to sleep. Maria hops off the couch.)

Maria: Hmph, the last thing you'll catch me doing is letting some kid tell me what to do. *in a mimicking voice* "Go to bed!" *scoffs*

Y/N: *off-screen* Bite our arse, you heard her.

(Everyone, including Qrow, turn their heads and see Y/N and Neo walking downstairs after the two left the room...

Neo jumps lightly above the couch and sits onto it with her legs crossed while Y/N stands next to Ruby.)

Y/N: We have to get all the sleep we need so we can manage to wake up before the sunrise.

(Y/N stares at Maria with a frustrated expression on his face.)

Y/N: You want to stay awake until late light and miss our ride? Be my guest.

Ruby: *stammers* U-Uh, N/N! No need to be hostile! Let's- Uhm...L-Let's just sleep and be ready to leave for tomorrow, sounds good?

(Y/N looks away to calm down, but only to notice Qrow drinking alcohol straight from the bottle...

Qrow took notice on Y/N, Neo and Ruby's expressions.)

Qrow: ...What?

Y/N: ...You too. Sleep.

Qrow: Huh?

Ruby: *frustrated* Uncle Qrow, you said it yourself! That also counts for you!

(Neo simply nods her head)

Qrow: Relax, kids. I'm not going to drink all of it. I was actually thinking to give up on alcohol.

(Ruby and Yang quickly look at Qrow with their shocking expressions.)

Ruby: What?!

Yang: You're actually trying to give up on alcohol?!

Qrow: *chuckles nervously* Well...It is going to take a long time to not drink...y'know, bad habit and stuff.

Y/N: *surprised* ...That was unexpected.

Qrow: Heh. Yeah...And i really mean it. Now, go get some sleep you two. Let me savor some of this before i start trying not to drink.

Ruby: *confused* And N/N?

Y/N: I'll make sure he doesn't drink all the wine in this house.

(The two nods their heads and return to the other room and they see Maria sitting on an armchair, she then turns on the lamp next to it and continues reading from the book. Ruby shrugs and smiles before going to sleep herself. The fire continues to burn in the fireplace.)

-Timeskip-
-The Next Morning-

(By next morning, the fire is out. Sunlight seeps through the curtained window while Team RWBY and Oscar sleep on the floor. Maria rests on the armchair, still holding the book she was reading. Qrow sleeps on the chair by the window, still barely grasping the wine bottle in his hand...

Y/N and Neo were the only ones who actually wake up before the sunrise, the latter pokes Qrow with her umbrella.)

Qrow: *mumbling in his sleep* Five more minutes...

Y/N: Wake the hell up!

(Y/N kicks on the leg of the chair, causing Qrow and Ruby, from the other room, to wake up with a start. She looks around before rubbing her eyes and getting on her feet. She then walks over to the windows and opens the curtains.)

Weiss: *mumbling in her sleep* Close the window!

Y/N: Up and rise, sunshine! You all overslept!

(Weiss immediately wakes up with a huge blush on her face when she heard Y/N calling her "sunshine"...

Unknowingly for her, Yang and Blake were pouting in their sleep while Neo simply grins at her brother figure.)

Ruby: *giggles* She's so red, N/N

Weiss: *flustered* S-Shut up! You d-dolt!

Qrow: *rubbing his eyes* Damn...That wine was stronger than i've thought...

(Maria closes another book and hops off the couch.)

Maria: If you all are done, can we finally move?

Y/N: For once, i agree with her. *to Neo and Weiss* Wake the others up. Rubes, Qrow and i pull the flatbed closer to the bike.

(They all nod their heads and went to their given tasks as Qrow walks outside, with Ruby and Y/N following him...

Later on, the group moves outside. Weiss is seen using Myrtenaster to weld a metal ball to a makeshift trailer hitch attached to Bumblebee...

Weiss, Blake, Yang, Qrow and Oscar's pupils appear to be dilated, while Y/N, Neo and Ruby's are their usual size.)

Weiss: There.

(Oscar and Blake can be seen sitting on the porch steps.)

Oscar: Can we just go back to bed?

Blake: If we're all so tired, maybe we should make breakfast?

Oscar: You wanna make it?

Blake: Not really.

(Y/N and Qrow push the flatbed trailer behind Bumblebee. Once it's in position, Ruby walks up to Yang.)

Ruby: You guys got the bike ready?

(Yang just gestures to it.)

Qrow: Well, it's done now. So let's hook this thing up and--

(Qrow rests his foot on the side of the trailer, and the tire on the opposite side goes flat. He groans in frustration before checking on the tire.)

Maria: You people are just beacons for bad luck, aren't you?

(Frustrated, Qrow just walks over to a nearby fence post and sits on the ground. Yang also sits on the ground by the well...

As for Y/N, he had enough of Maria's comments, so he activates his semblance and copies Weiss's semblance to make a glyph under the flattened tire...

He then grabs a gravity dust from his pocket and breaks it by squeezing his hand, making the glyph turning black as it turns sideways to replace the tire.)

Y/N: NOW we can leave.

Weiss: *impressed* Wow...

Oscar: You can do such thing?!

Ozpin: *mentally* Y/N always find a way to any kind of problems. His instincts, fighting style, every skills he owes, no one can replicate him.

Qrow: *smirks* That saves a lot of time.

Maria: *scoffs* Hmph, he was just smart enough. That's all.

(Suddenly, one of Y/N's summons from yesterday raises its axe towards Maria, making everyone jump out of shock.)

Ruby: *worried* You kept your golems for the whole day?!

Y/N: Healing glitch with Jaune's semblance. *to Maria* I'll say it once, listen good. *takes a deep breath and shouts* Shut the fuck up!

(Getting all fed up by Maria's sassy and sarcastic comments, Y/N causes to let his Aura out, making his other golem recoil backwards before it shatters into million pieces...

Yang, Weiss, Blake, Oscar and Qrow's pupils went back to their original state as they all share their shocked expressions, including Ruby and Neo.)

Maria: ...

Y/N: Ever since Beacon fell, we've lost more than just an academy...we have lost a place we once called it "home".

(Y/N lowers his head, his hands were trembling as he was controlling his emotions down.)

Y/N: After i faked my death, i eavesdropped tons of people mocking and insulting my teachers...my friends...even my lovers...

(His mask was slowly forming into a deathstroke mask as its tail was also coming out of his lower back.)

Y/N: Whenever it was about Ozpin...My old mentor...or anyone that was precious to me, they non-stop yapping stuffs like "Aren't Beacon students the best ones?" or "Shouldn't Ozpin using the CCT comms?". Well, guess what?

(He raises his head up, revealing his eyes are red and his mask was now a deathstroke mask.)

Y/N: You should be even grateful that you're still surviving with us around! If i was the only one alive! I WOULDN'T MIND DRAGGING A CORPSE AND ABANDONING IT HERE!

(And again, the second golem also shattered into piece after the high pressure of Y/N's semblance...

Maria kept her mouth shut, quietly lowering her head as she knew she would actually die if she dares to try defending herself with words...

After a few minutes, Y/N calms down and turns his semblance off, making his eyes and mask turning back to normal as his deathstroke tail retreats back inside his lower back...

Out of nowhere, Ruby detaches the Relic of Knowledge from her belt, glancing at it before looking up at her teammates, who appear to all have dazed looks as if they were in a trance. Ruby stares at the Relic one more time before walking over to the well.)

Y/N: *notices it* Rubes?

Ruby: Sorry, N/N...I was just thinking...about how determined you are right now.

Y/N: Ozpin told us to go to Atlas. Whenever Weiss and i like it or not, i will go there so we can that Lamp to Ironwood.

Weiss: ...Yeah, that's a fair point.

Blake: What about leaving the Lamp?

Yang: Yeah. How long it will take for Salem to find it anyway?

(Y/N and Neo narrow their eyebrows in frustration at their weird act.)

Ruby: What? The grimm might--

Yang: They'd find it eventually, sure, but bury it or just throw it down the well, it would take years. It might not even happen in our lifetime. But we could be done with it now.

(Ruby turns back to the well and starts to have the same dazed look on her face as she holds the Relic out above the pitch-black darkness of the well...

However, instead of dropping it immediately, Ruby hesitates for a bit before composing herself...

She starts to pull the Relic back, but then notices a pair of glowing red eyes at the bottom of the well, startling her and snapping her out of her trance-like state and returning her pupils to their normal size...

In her fright, she accidently drops the Relic into the well. Ruby helplessly watches it fall.)

Y/N: Rubes!

Ruby: No! No! No! I didn't mean to!

Weiss: Ruby, it's okay.

Ruby: No! No, there's something down there! I saw it, it was looking at me!

(Ruby looks back inside the well, only to notice the glowing pair of red eyes are gone.)

Yang: *putting a hand on her sister's shoulder* Hey, it's okay. You just said you're tired. It's probably nothing. Now let's go.

Ruby: *swatting Yang's hand off* What's wrong with you?! We can't just leave, we have to go down there! We have to get the Lamp back! Oh, what was I thinking?! *facepalming*

Y/N: Wait. You said something was down there?

Ruby: Yeah! It has red eyes!

(Neo suddenly gets concerned and swiftly types her scroll fast.)

Neo: [There must be a grimm down in the well.]

Ruby: Exactly! Come on, we have to get that Lamp now!

Qrow: All we have to do is fix this trailer. Hey, farm boy, check the shed for a spare.

Ruby: I'm not leaving without the Lamp!!

(Her teammates continue to dazedly stare at her.)

Blake: *sighs* I'll go down with you...

Weiss: We'll go down together.

Qrow: Fine! *getting up* Get the stupid Lamp. Oscar, fix the stupid tire.

(All of sudden, Team _WBY, Qrow and Oscar's pupils went back to normal before they quickly get surprised by the blast...

Y/N is now seen with his Judgement Day pointing up in the air as the barrel was leaving smoke from the muzzle.)

Qrow: W-What happened?

Y/N: The Lamp fell in the well.

Yang: *shocked* Crap! We have to go get it!

(As if energy was restore in them, Yang, Weiss and Blake follow Ruby down in the well to find the Relic...

Neo shortly pursuits after them before Y/N does the same...

Before he drops down the rope, he looks at Oscar and Qrow.)

Y/N: My semblance won't work over 100 meters. Find a new tire and replace it with the flat one.

Oscar: Got it!

(Qrow nods his head and goes with Oscar to find the tire...

Team RWBY, Y/N and Neo hop down into the well together, into a vast underground waterway system...

Ruby and Yang take out their Scrolls and turn on their flashlights.)

Yang: Maybe the current carried it away.

(They all proceed forward cautiously. Weiss notices more tunnel openings along the path.

Back above ground, Oscar works on fixing the tire while Maria continues to read. She turns a page, and the words "I did it! I found my solution" are visible.

Back underground, Team RWBY continue sloshing through the waterway.)

Ruby: Oh, come on, where is it?

Blake: Turn off your lights and just look for the glow?

Ruby: *nervously* Okay...

(Ruby and Yang turn off their flashlights, and Ruby pulls out Crescent Rose and proceeds forward with caution.

Back above, Maria continues to read, with the words "The huntsman pointed them out to me the other day." visible on the page. Maria narrows her eyes, reading more intently.

Underground, Team RWBY continue their search.)

Blake: There. *points at something ahead*

(Ruby looks to the direction Blake is pointing toward and notices the blue glow of the Relic of Knowledge coming from a tunnel along the path. Ruby runs forward by herself, but Y/N and Neo quickly follow her...

Above ground, Maria turns a page, revealing an illustration of a humanoid-looking Grimm with its name on the adjacent page: "The Apathy". Maria gasps.

Underground, Ruby arrives at the tunnel, and finds the Relic of Knowledge on the ground. She runs over and picks it up.)

Ruby: Guys, I--

(Ruby then looks up behind the Relic, adopting a horrified expression on her face. Multiple humanoid-looking Grimm of different sizes are bunched together...

They turn their heads toward Ruby, reaching their arms out to her. Ruby lets out a terrified scream, and her teammates snap out of their trance-like states, their pupils returning to normal.)

Yang: *gasps* Ruby?!

(Ruby backs away and runs out of the tunnel. Yang, Weiss and Blake see her run out and approach her.)

Yang: What is it?

(Y/N and Neo were seen holding a group of Apathy Grimm off with their weapons before they regroup with Team RWBY...

The rest of the team notice the skeletal Grimm slowly trudging out of the tunnel. Ruby takes out Crescent Rose and fires multiple rounds at them...

One of the Grimm lets out an ear-piercing scream, causing Team RWBY to struggle to stand.)

Yang: What is this...?

Blake: My weapon... feels heavy...

Maria: Run!

(From behind, RWBY, Y/N and Neo notice Maria appear.)

Maria: Now!

(Maria turns around and runs. Y/N and Neo watch the Grimm start to move toward them.)

Y/N: Go, go!

(They all turn around and run, catching up with Maria. They see daylight coming from the well, but more of the Grimm appear and block their path...

Another ear-piercing scream is heard, affecting the five women. Ruby notices another tunnel entrance next to her.)

Ruby: This way!

(RWBY, Y/N, Neo and Maria run into the tunnel. They continue to run through the complex underground passages while avoiding more of the Grimm's kind along the way. They then make their way to an underground room...

However, they notice a much larger group of the Grimm at one end of the room. They make a run toward the other way, but one of the Grimm lets out another scream, causing Team RWBY and Maria to collapse on all fours...

Y/N and Neo were surprisingly active rather than tired or exhausted by the Grimm's ability, but the two take advantage of it and starts fighting against them.)

Yang: I can't... do this... I can't...

(Maria gets back up, using her cane to support herself before collapsing again. On her fall, she feels a set of stairs in front of her.)

Maria: An exit. An exit!

(Ruby looks up and notices the stairs leading up to the cellar door. Ruby crawls forward to Weiss.)

Ruby: Come on!

(Ruby then hears a weapon drop behind her and notices Blake collapse to the ground, while she watches Y/N and Neo protecting the cat faunus.)

Ruby: Blake!

Y/N: *to Neo* Go! Now!

(Neo quickly jumps back and picks Blake up to drag her towards the stairs...

Y/N then takes the opportunity to copy the Apathy's traits as his eyes are also red...

Without hesitation, he lets out the loudest ear-piercing scream he could possibly emit, making the group of grimm recoil and suffer from their own ability...

However, this causes Blake gasps and snaps out of her trance, her eyes back to normal. Neo helps her up while Weiss, Yang and Maria also get back up.)

Ruby: I've got her, Neo! Let's go!

(Neo nods her head and goes back helping Y/N, Weiss runs up the stairs and tries to get the doors open, but they do not budge.)

Weiss: They're locked!

Yang: Out of my way!

(Yang runs up the stairs. The Grimm recover from their incapacitation, and another scream is let out. Team RWBY and Maria collapse once again....

This time, Neo and Y/N gets succumb by the effect of the scream, letting Y/N growling out of struggle.)

Yang: *reaching for the cellar door* No... No...!

(As the Grimm inch closer, Maria crawls toward Ruby, only able to see the world in shades of cyan.)

Maria: Ruby... what color are your eyes?

Ruby: They're... silver...

(Maria lets out a gasp of excitement.)

Maria: You have a family? Friends?

Ruby: What?

(Ruby looks up to see the Grimm getting closer, but Maria lays her head down and covers her ears. From Ruby's perspective, Maria's next words sound slightly muffled.)

Maria: Don't think about them. Think about the people who love you. Focus on the thought of them, the way they make you feel. Focus!

(Taking Maria's advice, Ruby closes her eyes and concentrates. While Maria speaks, Weiss tries to budge the doors open, and Yang reaches out in desperation before falling under a trance, her eyes even more blank than before.)

Maria: Life... is beautiful. It is precious. And it must... be protected.

(After focusing, Ruby opens her eyes, the silver gleaming. She sits up and her eyes glow brightly once more, driving the Grimm back and disintegrating them all...

Maria and Ruby stare in awe while Weiss, Blake, Yang, Neo and Y/N recover. Yang crawls up the stairs and punches the doors open with her prosthetic arm while firing from its gun...

RWBY, Y/N, Neo and Maria run out and find themselves in the basement that Ruby and Weiss discovered the day before.)

Blake: We're back in the house?

Yang: Who cares! Let's just get the hell out of here!

Maria: She's right! We're leaving! Come on!

(Maria runs out of the room, with Blake, Yang, Y/N, Neo and Ruby following her. Weiss looks back towards the basement entrance.)

Weiss: Not yet...

(Outside, Oscar has replaced the tire for the trailer and is filling it up with air. The noise from the air machine muffles the sound of people crying out his name.)

Yang: Oscar! Oscar!

Maria: Oscar!

(Oscar looks behind him to see Yang, Blake, Ruby and Maria run out of the house while Y/N and Neo stops at the doorframe waiting for Weiss.)

Yang: Oscar! We have to go, now!

(Oscar looks at them bewildered.

Back inside, Weiss grabs a few of the alcoholic bottles from the shelves and throws them towards the basement, shattering them.

As more of the Grimm slowly start to come out from the basement, Weiss uses Myrtenaster and a glyph to send fire toward the cellar doors. Using the spilled alcohol, she sets the Grimm on fire.)

Weiss: Now we can leave!

Y/N: *off-screen* Weiss!!!

(Weiss hears his call and immediately makes a run out of the room, exiting from the house with Neo pursuing her...

Y/N takes a few steps back from the house before he combines Simin and Yang's semblance to upgrade his rifle's blast from the fire dust, shooting a giant fire blast at the house...

He then quickly switches with the Apathy's traits to let out the same ear-piercing scream at the group of grimm, leaving them weak as they now screech in pain into the flames due to the effect of their own ability...

Outside, everyone sits in the flatbed trailer while Yang starts up her motorcycle. She wastes no time driving away from the now burning house...

Yang continues driving Bumblebee down the snowy road with everyone sitting in the trailer being pulled behind her.)

Maria: The Apathy. They're not strong or ferocious. They drain your will to go on. Bartleby's estate was hemorrhaging money towards the end. He wanted to cut costs on Huntsman protection, but in order to do that, he needed everyone calm... always.

Oscar: *reading from the book* "Managed to get two away from their pack. Hike back was miserable, but got the bastards in the cellar. Wife thinks I was out sealing the waterway entrance. I'll do it tomorrow and tell her the truth once these things take the edge off of everyone. I'm tired."

Maria: The next page proves that he did, but not before the rest of the pack followed their missing pair all the way home. My guess is they made their way beneath the estate through the water tunnels that Bartleby sealed up the next morning. Bartleby's plan worked. *takes the book from Oscar* No one was angry or sad or scared. No one was anything. And then... no one was left.

(Maria takes one more look at the final page of the diary, the last words written down being "I'm tired". She then closes the book and tosses it out into the snow, the cover having "VIII" on it, while the group continues to drive down the road...

Suddenly, they hear a guttural cough from Y/N, who was literally coughing blood as his Aura flickers like crazy. This causes Yang to stop driving and look behind her.)

Ruby: *worried* N-N/N?!

Qrow: Shit. He overdid both his voice and semblance!

(Y/N tries to copy Jaune's semblance to heal himself, but only for his own Aura shatters before their eyes before he collapses on the flatbed.)

Weiss: *tears up* Y-Y/N!!!

Oscar: *afraid* W-What happened to him?!

Ozpin: *mentally* His drawback. Mister L/N may carry a tremendous powerful semblance, but it has a major penalty for being blessed with such power...The more he uses it and copies more than one semblances, the more his Aura gets drained. Causing him to become a glass cannon himself.

Qrow: We should let him rest...He's been working a lot ever since we arrived and left Haven...

Blake: *her cat ears flop down* Will he...be alright?

Qrow: Kid's as tough as a nail...If he can survive from an arrow, he can survive from this.

(They all nod their heads before Yang revs her bike and drives them off again.)

Blake: I'm... sorry for what I said... about giving up the Lamp and all...

Yang: Me too. We can't quit until the lamp is safe.

Weiss: It's not your fault. It was those... things.

Maria: I should have known. The signs were all there, but I'd never seen an entire settlement withered away like that. I suppose my mind just isn't what it used to be.

Ruby: Miss Calavera? How do you know so much about the Grimm? And in the tunnels, you knew exactly what to say to make me... to make my eyes do that. How?

Maria: *smiles* Well, isn't it obvious, girl? I had Silver Eyes.

(She gets a collective of shocking expression from the group, except for Y/N...

The screen fades into pitch black as the Yang's bike's engine sound was filling the silence.)

A/N: I'm on a roll right now! At this rate, i'm gonna hit the griddy for this story!

I mean, joking! Ha ha!

Hah...

...

Anyway!

See you readers in the next chapter!

Bye Bye!!!